Bachelor of Climate Change in Anthropology

The University of Waikato

Climate change is the most pressing environmental issue facing humanity, affecting every facet of the world around us. We urgently need graduates who can lead future climate change solutions in all sectors of society. The Bachelor of Climate Change degree allows students to become an expert in one of a wide range of different major subjects that are needed to develop effective climate change solutions. Students will develop a comprehensive understanding of climate change through the compulsory papers of the degree, including its scientific, social, cultural and economic dimensions. Mātauranga Māori is interwoven through the degree and students are taught the importance of valuing different worldviews when trying to develop authentic solutions to the challenges of climate change. In anthropology we study issues as varied as the environment and climate change, racism and ethnic conflict, religion and spirituality, media and visual culture, politics and power relationships, money, finance and trade. In all of these areas anthropology focuses on the experiences of people. It is by listening to people and understanding things from their perspective that anthropology challenges mainstream knowledge. Too often decisions and power reside in the hands of those who merely make assumptions about the lives of others. Anthropology brings the voices of everyday lives into the global production of knowledge.